Industrial shoe



Jan. 11, 1938. M, Q REECE ET AL v 2,105,263

INDUSTRIAL SHOE Filed Jne 8, 193e jas 14 1^ l I J7 I l j 1 1' PatentedJan. l1, 179-38 UNITED u Y Y l' 2,105,263? PAfifa-N'r OFFICE!" amazes- 1Y i:

INDUSTRIALv sHoE Mae Genevieve Reece, AlfalDorthea Reece, and Gus E.Bergman, Columbus, Nebr., assignors to Becce Wooden Sole ShoeCompany,In'c.,1C'oc," lumbus, Nebr., a corporationof 'Nebraska Y .applicati-ibnJune s, 1936, seriaiNo. 84,200

'c iciaims. (ci. 3ft-2.5)

. This; invention l.relatesto ,a shoe, and more particularly., to, an'industrial shoe having, a

. wooden sole andmetaltoe. An object ofthe invention isfto provide ashoe L5 .Which Willlaiordpmaximum protection to the .wearer and' whichis .particularly Aadapted for .use in industrialplants wherethere isdanger of in- .J'lll'yto t lien feet` of workmen. A more specic objectis to. provide` a .shoe which will 1vgive ade- '10 ,quateprotection topthe jto'esfo'ffthe wearer and which will prevent injury through fallingobjects .and ,the like. A further object is,to provide a shoe which. issafely and comfortablyworn even under adverseheat conditions orlwherethere Vis i contact, with water, oil or acid.` Other objects andadvantages.willjappear asthe specification proceeds. Shoes having woodensoles have longV been used in industrial plants. -Advantages of thewooden soles are that they are non-conductorsof heat or electricity,that they are non-,porous and 'especially serviceable in` preventingliquids or chemicals from access to the feet ofthe wearer, and thattheyare'rigid .and non-yielding and 2 tend to prevent injury to the ,footbysharp objjects walkediupon or through ablo'w; lfrombeneaththe foot,`Theseadvantages havecaused the wooden soled shoe, long known 4in theart,

to be widely used in industrialplants..l A

. However, the protection afforded by the wooden sole has not been,adequate to properly protectl the Afeet ofthe'workmen.. It has' beenthe shankjIZ, and the rocker portion I5. The vunder portionof heel I0 isof shape similar to common fora heavy objecten fanupon the root of-theworkman, embed itself inthe upperl of the 3f shoe, and pin the foot fastbefore he hasa chance to extricate it. A rigid wooden sole: in itself isineffective; to prevent-,this type oiinjury, but

rather ,tendsto aggravate it,.for the rigid inner suriacewill allow theVtoesno escape.T

;` 4 We. have discovered a type of 'industrial shoe which meets thedemand foradequate toe protection.` Inour construction weemploya metaltoe piece.- V'I'houglfrin the past. metal, has been used in the vtoesofsomeA conventional type shoes,

"4 5 to our knowledgeametal piece has never before been` usedinanindustrialshoe having a wooden `or rigid sole. The peculiaradvantages ofsuch construction appear morelclearlyafter mydetailed description. l

.50'Inthedrawing- Figure 1` isa side view infelevation ,of the woodenshoe soleand the steeltOe; Figure 2, a

planview of1 the .woodenshoe sole with thesteel toe :Figure 3, `aside'view in elevation of a completed shoe; Figure 4, ra fragmentarysectional view ofthekfront portion of the completed shoe, thesectionbeingtaken .along line 4 4 of 4Figure 2; `and:,Fi'gur-ej..5afragmentary View partly inV shoe sole; alrigid metal toe; and C, theleather upper.A Y

The sole- A is herein described as being made yof., wood; thisbeing thepreferred materiaL'but it v mayalsobe madeof other rigid non-flexiblema- .,5'

terials. 'A' light weight wood of strong tough bre"" Vmakes a goodmaterial. The thickness of the sole vmay be as desired, but we havefound a thickness of Vapproximately 2 inches at the heel and; ap-

' higher, and theinside portion of shank` I2 appears slightly raised"to.form a partialv supportml for the arch ofthe foot.

Around the topedges ofgthe sole isV a rabbet I for groove lf3. As aresult of this groove, all the top edges of the sole, are lowered andtheY inner portion 'I 4 ,which supports the foot appears raised. 2 0 Asillustrated, `'groove I3 is about 1/ 4 inch wideand 1A inch deep,though` these dimensions may Vbe varied if desired. At the toe portiongroove I3 is,incrcased in width to allow room `for the lower-edgeof thesteel. toe. The wall I3a of,U groove I3, as shown in the illustration,isvertical" and ,perpendicular with the top of the sole, but

ifpreferred the wall I3a may be inclinedinwardly at the bottom causingrabbet or groove I3to` extend; slightly under the inner sole por-30 tionI4.

The bottomlof the sole consists of the' heel I0,

approxirriately midway between the heel I0 and the tip I1 of thetoe.vThe upward curvature cfa-40 the rocker portion I5 is such that'when theshoe is tippedforwardly the sole will rock on the walking surface toallow .the foot to raise and turnjasin the natural movement of walking.

The upper C is preferably made of leather ando comprises the vamp I9,heel counter 20, and'leg portion 2l. The vamp I 9 isl preferably in onepiece and is adapted, when attached to the sole,

' to completelyA cover the metal toe B. The counter and leg portions aresewed andriveted to-v getherV as in ordinary shoe construction. But inattaching the upper to the sole we prefer to turn the., lower edgesoutwardly and vdrive nails 22 fromthe exterior of the shoe through theoutwarclly .turned edges, through the bottom ofigroove I3, into thewoodof the sole. The points fof nails 22 should be inclined inwardly soas to draw the upper well into the corner of' groove I3. At the toeportion the upper is attache'djust as at the sides except that here theupper is not in contact with wall I3a of the groove, the steel toe beinginterposed therebetween.

The metal toe B is in general the shape of the toe of an ordinary shoe,except that it is deeper to allow ample room for toe comfort,as,V-

being non-resilient, it can not yield inrany way. Preferably the toe Bis made of steel, but other metals or non-resilient materials may beused, if desired. As shown more clearly in Figure' 4, its under edge 23is turned inwardly so as to form a slight hook for engaging wall I3a ofthe groove on the wooden sole. Y

In the assembly of the various parts, the steel i toe is rst placed onthe toe portion of the wooden sole with the edge 23 engaging wall I3e ofthe groove. The upper, its several parts being previously sewed andriveted together, is then placed in position, the front portion of thevamp extending all about the steel toe. By nailing the upper to the soleas previously described, the parts are made secure. The edges of theleather -are then preferably trimmed olf flush with the edges of thesole. An insole 24 may be inserted inside the shoe to provide greatercomfort to the wearer.

When the shoe is being worn and the wearer is in standing position, theshoe is in contact with the walking surface at the heel and at point I6.When the wearer takes a step and in so doing lifts his heel to tilt hisfoot, the point of contact moves from point I6 along the rocker surfaceI5, and at the completion of this movement the tip I1 of the sole is incontact with the walking surface. During this rocking movement the toeof the shoe has moved a distance downwardly towards the walking surface.

If, while wearing our improved shoe, a workman receives a blow on thetoe as from the fall of a heavy object, the steel toe, being rigid, willnot allow the object to puncture or crush his foot. Instead, the forceof the blow will be transmitted by the edges of the steel toe to thewooden sole. The wooden sole, being rigid, will not be flexed by theimpact and will transmit the force over all of the surfaces with whichit is in contact. An ordinary flexible sole used in combination withsuch a toe would be likely to flex under the blow and allow injury tothe foot by bruise or puncture from the underside.

Also, if the ordinary sole were used with the steel -toe the whole forceof the blow must be borne by the toe portion of the sole, causing thetoes of the wearer to be pinned down to an under surface, while in ourconstruction the force is transmitted backwardly by the rigid sole andborne at points rearward of the toe portion.

Another very important result is achieved here by such a combination. Ablow falling on the steel toe is not here met by immediate resistance aswould be the case where the ordinary sole is used. But here the forcestarts the toe portion downwardly causing the shoe to rock. and duringthis movement much of the force of the impact is wasted so that when thetip I1 does contact the solid surface no damage will be done.Furthermore, when the toe is being thus depressed, the -heel of the shoeis being lifted and the shoe turned toward an inclined position where itwill slip from under the heavy object, or at least can be easilywithdrawn. The upward thrust of the heel operates as a signal to theworkman to continue this movement and withdraw the foot.

or for any other reason it is desired to remove the steel toeseparately. The leather vamp extending over the steel toe need only beslit near its lower Yfront edge to allow the steel toe to move forwardlyand be removed from the shoe. Though held very securely when the vamp isin place, this method of attachment allows the steel toe to be quicklyand easily removed in an emergency.

In providing the groove I3 about the edge of the sole we not onlyprovide a means for anchoring the steel toe, but also make possible abetter attachment of the upper to the sole. When properly nailed, theupper will be depressed into the corner of groove I3 and will alwaysbear tightly against the edge of the inner surface I4; this tends tomake the joint waterproof and keep foreign matter from the feet of thewearer.

Figure 5 shows a modification of my invention in which the steel toe 25is held between the vamp 26 and the toe cap 21, and is secured to thesole by nailing the edges of the vamp and toe cap to the sole. The rearedge of the toe cap is sewed to the vamp at seams 28 which are rearwardof the metal toe 25. In this embodiment, the steel toe is prevented fromcontact with the foot of the wearer. Also the rear edge of the steel toeis enclosed and can not cause irritation or discomfort.

YThroughout the foregoing description and in the appended claims we haveused the term shoe in its broad sense as an article of footwear and asincluding boots or sandals, and wherever the term shoe is used, itshould be understood as embracing a boot as well. While we have shownspecific forms of construction by way of illustration, it will beunderstood that many changes may be made in the construction withoutdeparting from the spirit of our invention.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly aspermissible, in view of the prior art.

We claim: Y l

V1. A shoe comprising a wooden sole, an upper, a non-flexible metal toebeneath said upper, said sole having a rabbet extending around its upperedge, said upper being attached to the lower face of said rabbet, thefront wall of said metal toe being substantially perpendicular to thetop toe surface of said sole, said front wall having its lower edgeinclined inwardly and formed to a relatively sharp lower edge, saidlower edge engaging the Vertical wall of said rabbet.

2. A shoe comprising a wooden sole, an upper, a non-flexible metal toebeneath said upper, said sole having a rabbet extending around its upperedge, said upper being attached to the lower face of said rabbet, thefront wall of said metal toe being substantially perpendicular to thetop toe surface of said sole and abutting the vertical wall of saidrabbet, said front wall of the metal toe being formed to a relativelysharp lower edge engaging the vertical wall of said rabbet.

M. GENEVIEVE REECE. ALFA DORTHEA REECE. GUS E. BERGMAN.

